Monday, 8 August 2016

All of us know about the
current financial problem of unpaid salaries being faced by many workers in
Saudi Arabia. There have been several protests in this regard by workers and we
know cases when final exit visas were issued massively by construction
companies as they did not have funds to pay off salaries to employees. Ministry
of Labor was making all the efforts to counter this issue but how would they
force a company to pay off salaries to employees if that company does not have
funds to run their operations. Finally, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King
Salman had to intervene into this situation. Recommended: Saudi
Binladin group issues 50,000 Final Exit Visas to workers without final dues

King Salman has directed
Ministry of Labor to take serious measures to tackle the issue of unpaid salaries
in collaboration with Ministry of Finance. King Salman has directed government
agencies to not to pay any amount of money to those companies who are in violation
of Wage Protection System. King Salman had to take this extreme step due to an
increasing amount of complaints filed by workers to the Labor office as a
result of delays in Salaries. If you just talk about construction giant Saudi Oger, Labor office has received 31,000 labor related complaints for
only one company. Recommended: 9
Salient Features of Wage Protection System (WPS) in Saudi Arabia

Payment
of Salaries on behalf of Companies: In this regard, King
Salman has also ordered to deposit SR
100 million to Saudi Arab Fund account to tackle this issue. Ministry of
Labor will have full authority to use this fund for the welfare of workers. It
is expected that this amount will be used to pay off salaries of dissent workers.
Later on, this amount will be deducted from the funds which government has to
release to these companies. Government makes directly and indirectly different
kind of payments to almost every company.

Housing
and Accommodation: King Salman has also ordered Ministry of Labor
to take all the measures to ensure that the distressed workers are given with proper
housing and accommodation. The cost of provision of these services will also be
deducted from the payments Saudi government makes to these companies.

Airline
Tickets and Final Exit Visas: Last but not the least,
King Salman has also instructed Ministry of Labor and Saudi Airlines to
transport those workers who want to go on final exit to their home countries.
Jawazat has also been ordered to expedite the process of issuing final exit
visas for these employees. The amount incurred on this will also be deducted
from the payments government has to make to these companies.